Commissions
18 SLMs, 4 SDVs
Eighteen candidates were
commissioned as Salesian Lay Missioners, and four more as Salesian Domestic
Volunteers (or as “Home Missioners,” some would prefer to say), in a rite at Don Bosco
Retreat Center
in Haverstraw on August 17.
 |
| 2012's lay mission volunteers--both overseas and domestic--with Bp. Luc, Fr. Tom Dunne, Fr. Mark Hyde, and their orientation staffers Adam Rudin, Meg Fraino, Amber Kraft, and Marcos Cisneros |
Bishop Luc Van Looy, SDB,
of Ghent, Belgium, presided over the commissioning rite, assisted by Adam Rudin, director of the SLM program, Meg
Fraino, director of the SDV program, and Fr. Tom
Dunne, provincial.
The commissioning was the
culmination of three weeks of orientation that began July 26 for the two groups
and included intercultural awareness, introduction to Don Bosco and the
Salesian charism, practical experience in the Salesian summer day camp in Port
Chester, the nitty-gritty details of travel overseas, and a six-day retreat.
Bishop Luc, a former
missionary in Korea
and former member of the Salesian general council, was preaching a retreat for
more than 40 Salesian priests and brothers, whose parallel presence is a vital
part of the orientation that all lay volunteers receive.
The SLMs, 15 women and 3
men, will serve in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (1); three sites in South Sudan (5);
four sites in Bolivia (9);
and two sites in Ethiopia
(3). They'll work in schools, youth centers, orphanages, clinics, programs for street kids, and perhaps more.
The SDVs include two men
and two women who will serve in Salesian sites in Chicago; North Haledon and
South Orange, N.J.; Takoma Park, Md., and Westwego and Harvey, La.--mainly in youth ministry programs, but Don Bosco Cristo Rey HS in Takoma Park involves teaching and coaching primarily.
The 22 volunteers range in
age from 19 to 53, with the great majority of them in their early 20s. They come from the states of California (2), Colorado,
Illinois, Iowa
(2), Louisiana, Maryland,
Michigan, New Jersey,
New York (2), North
Carolina, Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (2), Virginia,
Washington, Wisconsin,
and one from Radom, Poland,
by way of Pennsylvania.
The commissioning rite
took place within a Votive Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples. Fr. Steve Leake
presided and preached. Using the reading
of the day from the prophet Ezekiel (16:1-15,60,63), he challenged the youthful
volunteers to remember who they are, to give themselves completely to God’s
love, and to let others know that they are loved too.
In photos: left, Caitlin Seymour prepares to receive her cross from the bishop; right, Jenna Simonton and the bishop exchange smiles after he's given her the cross.
As noted in my post about the SDB retreat (http://sdbnews.blogspot.com/2012/08/on-retreat-last-week-aug.html), on Friday evening, as per our custom, there was a festive
dinner followed by a thank-you for the preacher and some musical, theatrical,
and comic entertainment. In this instance, most of it was supplied by our
enthusiastic and talented young women and men. Some samples:
To learn more about the Salesian Lay Missioners, go to http://salesianlaymissioners.org/home/
For the Salesian Domestic Volunteers, or "home missioners," go to http://www.salesianym.com/domesticvolunteers/
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